Devices for holding articles in a refrigerator container



March 1956 T. w. DAHL ET AL 2,7 8, 90

DEVICES FOR HOLDING ARTICLES IN A REFRIGERATOR CONTAINER Filed April 3, 1955 INVENTORS mane W DAl-u. By fiA C. D/am.

United States Patent DEVICES Eon HOLDING Amnenns IN: A nnnnronnaron CONTAINER Thure w. nammelamine; Dahl', Norwich, Conn. Application April 3,. 19.5%,. Serial; No 3.4.6.9759

1 Claim. (Cl. 215-6) This invention relates to. portable refrigerator receptacles and carriers particularly adapted for easy portability and preferably small size and light weight, adapted for keeping relatively small, quantities of materials. at a desired temperature to preventl'o ss of vital'qual'ities under conditions of travel, transmission and storage ingeneral.

One of the more importantfield's for application of the present invention resides in the personal use and carrying of pharmaceutical products and biologicals which tend to lose their potency or, become, otherwise damaged when stored at temperatures that are too high. Insulin and certain forms ofvitaminpreparations, as well as other pharmaceutical products,,mus,t bev maintained, cooled orgrefrigerated. in order to maintain; the original potency thereof andthis causesa definite problemfor persons. who have to use these, products, when traveling. Ordinarily the products are carried without any kind of; refrigeration; and, therefore, the person suffersfrom the use of preparations which, are, not up to standard at the .time of use.

It is a principal object of. the; present invention to provide new and improved means. for transporting and refrigerating products, such as above specified, as well as others, and ordinarily the materials carried under refrigeration take up but a very small space and are easily handled and kept refrigerated up to seventy-two hours with a single application of ice or other refrigerant, with the novel container, and the construction thereof is such that it is rendered particularly easy and simple for the material to be used and also it is particularly easy to renew the refrigerant for extended periods of time.

Another object of the invention resides in the provision of a small refrigerant carrier or container preferably in the nature of a pint food container or smaller, the same being provided with a relatively small mouth as is usually found in vacuum bottles which insulate the contents against changes in heat and cold, wherein the container is adapted to receive crushed ice or other refrigerant material and the mouth thereof is adapted to be closed by a resilient hollow stopper preferably of a rubbery consistency such as natural or synthetic rubber or certain plastics, said stopper comprising a circular wall and being open at the top and the bottom, the bottom opening therein being provided with an inwardly-directed annular shoulder cooperating with an exterior annular shoulder on a relatively elongated tube of glass or plastic or the like, said tube fitting within said stopper and depending well below the same so that the major portion of the tube is received within the refrigerating container but may be removed therefrom, said tube having a closed bottom and an open top, said open top extending through the bottom portion of said stopper and being provided with closure means, preferably located substantially within said stopper, whereby a small container of a medicament or biological product may be inserted into the tube with the stopper in place in the mouth of the container, and preferably the tube is long enough so that two bottles of the medicament may be contained in the 2, tube and may. be easily extracted therefrom without disturbing the stopper, the stopper and" tube being removable as a unit for the purpose of renewing the refrigerant or cleaning the same, and the tube being removable from the stopper.

Other objects and advantages of the invention, will appear hereinafter.

Reference is to be had' to the accompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 is a cut-away view, partly in section, illustrating the vacuum type of insulated refrigerant carrier, the invention being applied thereto;

Fig. 2 is a view onv an enlarged scale, showing the stopper therefor and the tube depending therefrom;

Fig. 3 is a view illustrating the tube, part being broken away; and

Fig. 4 is a top plan view of the, combined stopper and tube with. the topv closure for the tube removed to illustrate a bottle of, medicament contained. therein.

Reference is hereby made to our copendihg application, Serial No. 284,532, filedi April 26, 1952 now Patent No. 2,718,973, September 27, 1955. The general objects of the invention and the basic concept thereof are somewhat the same as in the present case, but this invention provides a less expensive medicament and biological refrigerant andcarrier which may be applied tothe more usual type of vacuum bottle ordinarily of the spoon type, which bottle iswidely sold and available.

The present invention provides a unit which may be used with the conventional spoon type of container, rendering it unnecessary for the user to buy the wide mouth vacuum bottle also, since ordinarily the smaller mouth bottles are found in universal. use but employing conventional corks or stoppers.

In, the present, case, the refrigerant bottle liner, only is shown, the, exterior casingtherefornot being shown and being of usual and well known. construction. This bottle is of the double-walledvariety and is generally indicated at 10. It has a reduced mouth 12 which, however, is large enough for the insertion of a spoon therein. The details of this container, its housing, its various cups, etc., which may be used therewith, may be conventional or as shown in our application above identified with the exception that in the present case the mouth is smaller.

Closing the present container, there is a novel stopper generally indicated at 14. This stopper may have straight or tapering sides, compare Figs. 1 and 2, but in any event, it is preferred that the exterior Wall thereof be ribbed as at 16, providing a higher frictional contact between the exterior of the stopper and the interior of the neck of the bottle which is indicated at 18 in Fig. 1. This stopper is also provided with an annular outwardlyextending rim 20 which seats upon the mouth of the container 12, and preferably it has a finger-piece or handle 22 by which it may be more easily extracted from the container, it being noted that this stopper seats well down into the neck of the container 10.

The stopper is also provided interiorly thereof at the bottom edge with an inwardly-directed annular rib or rim 24 forming a shoulder and defining a central aperture of relatively large size in the bottom of the stopper which is otherwise hollow. It is to be understood that this stopper is adapted to be held in the neck of the container with a comparatively firm frictional contact.

One of the important parts of the invention resides in the provision of the hollow tube 26. This tube has a closed end 28 and an open end opposite thereto at 30. Adjacent the end 30 and inwardly spaced therefrom there is an exterior annular rib 32 forming a shoulder complementary with the stop formed by the internal rib 24 at the lower edge of the stopper. The external diameter of the tube is approximately the same as the internal diameter of the opening in the stopper as defined by the rib 24 thereof and the tube may be slid into this opening and it may be removed therefrom; but, there is a frictional holding relation between these parts so that if the device is held upside down and given a slight shake, the stopper will stay in the neck of the vacuum bottle and the tube will maintain its position with respect to the stopper.

The usual bottle of biological product or other medicament may be inserted in the tube when the stopper is in position in the container 10, and in fact, it is preferred that the tube be long enough to contain two bottles as illustrated in Fig. 1. The volume of the vacuum bottle 10 is sufficient to contain the tube centrally thereof and at the same time receive a considerable body of crushed ice or the like refrigerant surrounding the tube and also located below the same so that the tube will be well refrigerated.

The tube may be provided with a stopper 34 or it may have a cap to close the same. The bottles 36 may be of a length to extend above the refrigerant line and into the area of the stopper 14, but the tube, being refrigerated, will conduct the heat away from the medicament even though a part of the upper bottle should be located above the refrigerant line. The stopper 34 may be of a size to rest down upon the upper surface of the top of the medicament bottle which is illustrated at 36 and thus the device may be shaken up but the bottles will be relatively tightly held so as to fail to vibrate and knock against each other, with the stopper 34 in place.

In the use of the device, it is only necessary to remove the stopper 34, slide out one of the refrigerated bottles 36, and utilize the same as desired for purposes indicated. A good supply of medicament or in fact, two difierent kinds may be carried in refrigerated condition and it is a very easy matter to remove the stopper l4 torefill the container with a refrigerant. Anyone can easily prepare the present device and carry it in pocket, purse or bag without fear of injury thereto or of loss of content or of the refrigerant, even though melted in part and, of course, the material under refrigeration is maintained as to potency for periods of time clearly long enough to pro vide for reicing, etc.

Having thus described our invention and the advantages thereof we do not wish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, otherwise than as set forth in the claim, but what we claim is:

A portable container for refrigerating smaller containers and the contents thereof, said portable container comprising a narrow neck and enlarged refrigerant containing body portion, a hollow removable stopper for said narrow neck, an external flange at the outer end of the stopper, an interior rib at the inner end thereof, the flange positioning the stopper in the neck, said rib defining a hole in the stopper well below the mouth of the portable container, a tubular receptacle having an open and a closed end, an external rib on the receptacle adjacent to but spaced inwardly from the open end thereof, said receptacle being of substantially equal diameter from end to end and being placeable in the portable container and held therein in removable condition by the stopper, said ribs engaging to hold the receptacle in position, smaller containers slidably receivable in the receptacle, a stopper for the receptacle to close the same and hold the smaller container therein, the latter being freely slidable in and out of the receptacle with the receptacle stopper removed.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 803,756 Gwynne Nov. 7, 1905 899,015 Fitzsimmons Sept. 15, 1908 999,672 Puffer Aug. 1, 1911 2,265,615 Stalter Dec. 9, 1941 2,384,398 Raven Sept. 4, 1945 2,504,916 Zolot Apr. 18, 1950 2,653,611 Smith Sept. 29, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 847,223 France June 26, 1939 

